Racial stereotypes in viral videos are nothing to stew about

Also in Opinion

Subscribe to The Dispatch

Already a subscriber?
Enroll in EZPay and get a free gift!
Enroll now.

Saturday May 18, 2013 6:55 AM

It’s now been over a week since Charles Ramsey catapulted into the national news as the
Cleveland hero who rescued three young women who had been held captive and sexually assaulted for a
decade.

Ramsey’s colorful recollection of how he came to the aid of Amanda Berry in his initial local
news interview instantly went viral on YouTube. The lively sensory detail Ramsey used to describe
how his day was going before hearing Berry’s screams began with him eating food from McDonald's in
his living room and was filled with transitions of “you know what I mean” and “you see where I’m
comin’ from.”

His energetic account of his heroism has become fodder for comedians like Mike Epps, who already
has done a spoof of Ramsey’s story.

Ramsey, through no fault of his own, now completes a meme trinity that includes Sweet Brown and
Antoine Dodson, comedic African-Americans whose quotes from news interviews have become
catchphrases in pop culture. The media also have been accused of playing to racial stereotypes
while covering these three during the height of their popularity.

Brown, who was interviewed after escaping a burning apartment building, is known for her
one-liner “Lord Jesus, it’s a fire!” and going out to get a “cold pop” before smelling smoke. Brown
also informed the reporter of another fact that she thought was relevant during the fleeting
moments her life was in danger: She has bronchitis.

Dodson bravely fought off a man attempting to rape his sister, but it was pretty much impossible
not to laugh when he looked into the camera and said, “Hide ya kids, hide ya wife and hide ya
husband cause they rapin’ everybody out here!”

Ramsey’s most memorable quip, however, was a simple yet profound observation of how black men
are perceived by many in his community. “I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl
ran into a black man’s arms,” he said. “Dead giveaway!”

Ramsey may not be familiar with the term
post-racial, but his statement was certainly a dead giveaway that we are not there
yet.

After this interview, blog posts on black websites were filled with complaints of Ramsey and
other poor or working-class black folk in the ‘hood being exploited on local news stories. I
disagree somewhat with this assertion.

While Ramsey, Brown and Dodson are definitely charismatic characters, their responses to
questions were not purposely scripted to make viewers laugh. Their true personalities came out in
their answers, which just happened to result in entertaining television.

The current fuss over Ramsey points to the ongoing dilemma African-Americans have when it comes
to racial depictions, and since people can endlessly watch him, along with Brown and Dodson, on
YouTube, the frustration festers. I understand the sensitivity in the African-American community
because of our history of negative racial imagery in the media. However, while racial stereotypes
have not disappeared from American culture, we have gotten to a period in this country where
sensational images of a few are not considered representative of an entire ethnic group.

One classic case that shows how far we have come is the opposition the NAACP had against the
popular 1951 television show
Amos ‘n’ Andy. In a litany of complaints, the NAACP claimed that
Amos ‘n’ Andy was a show that featured “Negroes as inferior, lazy, dumb and dishonest.”
These accusations were justifiable since there were no other programs on television during that
time that gave a well-rounded portrayal of black life. That is certainly not the case today, even
though YouTube memes have a strong cultural presence.

I would like to see us get to a point where we are not so uptight about viral sensations such as
Ramsey, Brown and Dodson. And when it comes to racial stereotypes, we should have the same attitude
toward them that Brown had about her bronchitis while running for her life: “Ain’t nobody got time
for that!”

Jessica A. Johnson is an assistant professor of English composition at Central State University
and writes for the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald.